Feeder for pulverized material



gvwentoz G. H. KAEMMERLINCS FEEDER FOR PULVERIZED MATERIAL Filed June l,1921 lllllllllllllllllllllll 35% attenua@ Patented ug. 4, 1925i..

Y GUSTAV HENRY `KAEMl\I]l}IR.1IIN(1`r, OF ALLENTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA,ASSIGNOR T0 FULLER-LEHIGH COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

IIIEEDEIR. FOR P'ULVEBIZED MATERIAL.

Application filed J' une 1,

To all whom t mayv conce/m:

Be it known that I, GUsTAv II. KAEM- MERLING, residing at Allentown, ,inthe county of Lehigh, State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Feeders for Pulverized Material; and I dohereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionof the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to whichit `appertains to make and use the same.

rIhe present invention relates to a device for feeding pulverized orfinely divided material, such .for example, as pulverized coal, andinvolves the provision of a device of this character `having controlmeans for producing a uniform flow of material,'and for instantlyshutting od' the flow when so desired.

conduit for conveyingthe material to the point where it is to be used.The iow ofV material through the passage iscontrolled by meansconsisting of a plurality of loosely packed bodies which are of aconfiguration and employed. in such number that when they are at restthere will be no continuous path for the material from the top to thebottom of the packed bodies thus preventing the flow of material throughthe passage;

but that when they are set in motion or agitated by appropriate means,the material will be permitted to ow past the balls along tortuous pathsthrough the passage. Substantially spherical bodies are most eective forthis purpose, and I have obtained the best results with steel balls.

Where the passage is downwardly extending as inthe preferred form ofconstruction, a support is provided near the discharge end of thepassage for the balls loosely packed therein, and this support alsocarries the means for agitating the balls. The support for the ballspreferably consists of a rotatable valve member situated near thedischarge end of the passage for material, the

i aagitating the balls.

In the specific embodiment ofthe invention described hereinafter, thedevice has 1921. seria1n0.474,1o3. i

ashaft extending into the passage for material upon the end of which ismounted a Ydisc-shaped valve member of slightly less diameter than thepassage to provide 'an annular passage for the *material between thevalve member and the wall of the passage.

yIhe invention is illustrated `in, the accompanying drawing inapplication,v as an example, to a feeding device for pulverized coal, inwhich the figure illustrates in sectional elevation the feeding deviceconnected to a conveyor conduit..

'Ihe device illustrated in the drawing has a hopper 1 positioned above acylindrical passage 2. The passage 2 discharges intola receptacle 3which is in open communication with a conveyor conduit 4, at one side ofthe receptacle, and a duct 5 for air under pressure opening into theother side. Mounted in a` bearing 6`at the bottom of the receptacle 3 isa shaft 7 extendingl through the receptacle, and having a pulley 8 atits lower end connected by means of a belt 9 to power. At the upper endof the shaft 7 is a disc-shaped valve member 10 of slightly lessdiameter than the passage 2 to provide an'annular passage 11 -for thematerial betweenthe wall of the passage 2 and the periphery of the valvemember 10. The upper surface of the valve member 10 is provided with' aseriesof projections 12 which are adapted to engage the lowermost ballsof a plurality of balls 13 situated in the passage 2, and which aresupported by the valvemember 10.

rIhe operation of the device is as follows t rIhe pulverized or finelydivided material such as coal lll-is conveyed by any suitable means tothe hopper and discharged therein, the material dropping by gravity andfilling up the spaces or pockets between the balls until its downwardpassage is blocked. As soon as the shaft 7 is rotated the projections 12act on the lowermost of balls 13 causing them to move irregularly aroundthe passage, and this motion is communicated to the upper balls causingthem to continuously change their positions. The agitation of the balls13 ermits the material 14CI Jco-.1iovv downwardly y gravity past theballs, out of the discharge end of the passage 2, through the annularpassage 11 and into the receptacle "3. As the material fallsl throughthe receptacle and into the Vpath of the blast of air from the air duct5, it is n entrained by the air'and carried out through .c material thedriving means are disconnected,

thus stopping the rotation of the shaft 7 and the valve member 10,whereupon the balls 13 at once come to rest, and completely close thepassage 2. L

l have found that when the device is in finely divided material having adownwardly operation the material 'flows through the i passage and is'discharged atanabsolutely uniform ratefor any given speed of rotationvof the shaft 7 and that any lumps of foreign matter which may bepresent in the material are tumbled .around among or over theballswithout clogging the feeder. The rate of discharge of material beinguniform for a given speed, the outputof the feederl may be convenientlymeasured by Ameans of a revolution counter Iattached toi'the shaft 7.

In practice, for a passage e in diameter,

1/2 lballs have given satisfactory results, and balls have beensuccessfully used inV passages havin lsmaller diameters suchv 'as 2 and3". yT e balls in passage 2 are usually made about 3 in depth so as toprovide a sufficient. number of balls to instantly cut off the Iflow ofmaterial when the operation of the feeder is stopped. v

l claim:

1. A device for feeding pulverized or finely divided material, having apassageway through which the material is to be fed, a loosely packedmass of freely movable bodies in the passageway, an element in thepassageway in contact with the freely mpvable bodies, a second elementin contact with said freely movable bodies, one of the elements'beingIadapted to be moved relative to the other and cooperating therewith -toagitate the freely movable bodies, said freely movable bodies being.constructed and arranged to permit ythe iow of material when agit-atedby said cooperating elements and to shutoff the flow when at rest..

. '2. A` device for feeding pulverized orr finely divided material,having a passageway Athrough which the material is to be fed, a looselypacked mass of freely movable bodies in the passageway, and means withinthe passageway adapted` to be moved relatively to the walls thereof forcausing an agitationof the freely movable bodies, said freely movablebodies being constructed and arranged toV permit the flowof. materialthrough the passageway when set in motion by said agitatingmeans, andtio shut off the erally spaced from the walls thereof to provide anoutlet for the material, and a loosely vpacked mass' of freely movablebodies supported on said disc in a plurality of irregular layers. t

4. A device for feeding pulverized ,or

extending passageway through which the material is to be fed, a looselypacked mass of freely movable bodies in said passageway normally closingthe latter, a rotatable valve l said rotatable valve member foragitating the said freely movable bodies, whereby when said valve memberis rotated and the freely movablebodies acted upon by said agitatingmeans, the material flows past the freely movable bodies, through said,passage way and past the valve member.

5. rA device for feeding pulverized or finely divided material having adownwardly extending passageway through Which the material is to be fed,a loosely packed mass of freely movable bodies insaid passagewaynormally closing the latter, a rotatable valve member in the passagewayprovided with a projection on its surface adjacent4 the freely movablebodies to agitate the latter, whereby Vwhen the freely movable bodiesare acted ing into said passageway, a Ydisk-shaped valve member ofslightly less diameter than said passageway mounted on the end of saidshaft, upon which v-alve member the freely movable lbodies aresupported, said valve member having a projection on its surface adjacentthe freely movable bodies for agitating the latter, and driving meansfor rotating said shaft and said valve member.

`In testimony whereof l aiX my signature.

' GUSTAV HENRY KAEMMERLING.

